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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. rash — hasty
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. net — for catching
  6. mate — a partner
  7. mate — a friend
  8. roll — a list
  9. rash — a series
  10. saw — the tool
  11. land — ground
  12. land — to come down
  13. net — in sport
  14. land — a country
  15. mate — to breed
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. net — after costs
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. saw — the tool

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com